Demo & Song Stories: "One For All" (2007)by Julian
Gill
"One For All" : The lead-off and title track from Peter's 2007 solo album. This song was inspired by the events of, and resulting from, 9-11-01 and Peter's perspective as a Brooklyn native of the shock and horror of that day. According to Peter, "I went to Church that day and coming home, watching it on television, it was so surreal, but I knew I wanted to do something" (PR). And Peter certainly did do something appearing at the "Families of Freedom" benefit at the City Center in Manhattan on November 20, 2002. Peter performed "Beth" with a backing band comprised of Felica Collins, Dr. Gibbs, Scott Yahney, and Dave Matos. Peter's song features the backing vocals of the Church of Transfiguration Boys Choir.

"Doesn't Get Better (Than This)" : Written by Peter, Charlie Kipps and Mike McLaughlin.
A duet with Jennifer Johnson. This song was simply inspired by the success and the positive trappings that come with that success. Charles Kipps is a close friend of Peter who has worked with Aretha Franklin. Charles Kipps won a 2004 Daytime Emmy as an executive producer for his work on "Little Bill." Charles and Peter's relationship extends outside the sphere of music with Peter having been mentioned for the cast of the movie (playing the character "Mike"), "Frame of Mind," starring Chris Noth, which was expected to start filming in NJ late last year. Charles co-wrote the screen play for the movie with director Charles Evans. The movie's plot revolves around new evidence for the Kennedy assassination surfacing.

"Last Night" : Wendy Sutter plays cello on this song.
This song was written by Peter and Mike McLaughlin.

"What A Difference A Day Makes" : Written by Maria Grever and Stanley Adams. Recorded by Dinah Washington in 1959 providing her with a #4 hit on the R&B charts. This single also paved the road for Dinah's cross-over success reaching #8 on the pop singles charts. In the following year she nailed three #1 hits on the R&B charts. Her success didn't last and she died in 1963 due to a drug/alcohol overdose. This song actually dates from 1934 when it was originally composed in Spanish by Maria Grever as "Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado." Stanley wrote the English language lyrics. Peter required three takes to record this song, which his dedicated to his Mother (PR) who had loved singing the song.

"Faces In The Crowd" : Inspired by Peter looking out into the crowd every night. According to Peter, "I would look out on the crowd at those smiling faces every night and I'm so proud to have those fans. I thank God and the fans every day for what they've given me; they're the biggest stars, not me. And they've made a wonderful life for me" (PR).

"Send in the Clowns" was written by Stephen Sondheim and was originally featured in the 1973 musical, "A Little Night Music." It was the first song Peter recorded following his departure from KISS. As one would expect for a ballad album, Peter's version was inspired by the pain of not having Ace with him on his final tour with KISS in 2003. Those emotions made this emotive and mournful ballad a perfect expression of Peter's own life experiences. According to Peter, "It was a very heavy time for me. KISS had finished work with the Melbourne Symphony and the song made sense... I knew we wanted to do different things, and for me it was finally getting down to doing this album of my life" (PR). Stephen added a new verse for the 1985 Barbra Streisand recording of the song – it's currently not known which version Peter has recorded.

"Heart Behind The Hands" : From the musical, appropriately in title and subject matter, "Brooklyn: The Musical." Peter auditioned for a role in a Broadway production following his appearance on Oz, but while his singing was fine his acting skills still needed some work so he didn't get the part. Peter did attend the opening night of the show at the Plymouth Theatre in New York on October 21, 2004. The musical was written Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson with this song being attributed to Schoenfeld (Copyright Registration).
The song isn't about any specific character in the production's cast. According to Mark Schoenfeld, "This character is living on the street and how often do we pass by homeless souls like him, never once thinking of how they got there, what were their dreams and aspirations, who they loved, who loved them and why someone doesn't love them enough to provide shelter now. Well there's a story behind those empty eyes and 'Heart Behind These Hands' will lead you into that story" (PR). Peter recalls the song's transition: "My guitarist Mike and I looked at it and it was good, but very Broadway, so we thought 'let's try to do this bluesy shuffle, a Zeppelin kind of thing" (PR).

"Memories" : is written by Peter for his fans in a similar vein to "Faces In The Crowd."
"Space Ace" : The final song on "One For All," inspired obviously by Peter's KISS band member Ace Frehley. This song was written by Peter and former Criss bassist Mark Montague who also plays guitar on the recording. This song is similar in title to one that Peter wrote prior to the "Psycho Circus" recording fiasco, called "Space Fever," which he thought would be a good song for Ace, at the time. Whether the two songs are related is currently unknown.

Extra NOTES :"Hope" (ASCAP Title Code:
381215416)
A song submitted (and rejected) for KISS' "Psycho Circus" album...
It should be noted that "Hope" was the title of a song written by Peter Criss for the KISS reunion album in 1998. Peter considered the song to be an excellent piece of work, naturally a ballad, about Peter facing the numerous challenges in his life in a positive manner. While the song wasn't used on "Psycho Circus," it's not clear whether this new song is the same as that presented to Bruce Fairbairn in 1998.
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"Space Ace" (ASCAP Title Code: 492945614)
The ONE
OF KIND band's bio states, "Peter is currently working on his next solo record and we co-wrote one song together and I play bass on several others." This would suggest that the Criss/Montague composition "Space Ace"
was at least written for the Peter Criss album (whether or not it will be released is another matter).
This song is similar in title to one that Peter wrote prior to the "Psycho Circus" recording fiasco, called "Space Fever," which he thought would be a good song for Ace, at the time. Whether the two songs are related is currently unknown.

The ONE
OF KIND bio also states: "Mike [McLaughlin] has co-written several songs on ONE OF A KIND as well as co-writing many songs on the new Peter Criss record."
Many of these songs were published in October 2005 by Peter
Criss Publishing and include "Whisper,"
"Bohemia," "Cat Nap," "Reason For
Living," "Last Night," "Crossroads,"
"Fallin' All Over Again," "Faces In The
Crowd," "Hope," and "What Does It Take"
written by Peter and Mike. Additionally, "Doesn't Get
Better (Than This)" written by Charlie Kipps, Peter and
Mike.
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From
Billboard.com (March 3, 2005)
PETER CRISS: "I started writing this stuff a couple of years back, actually. I was procrastinating, that's the big thing with me. So I buckled down, we started building this studio, it's here, and we've been working on it. It's exciting - I've got a whole bunch of new material. It's going to be really good." Peter also told Billboard.com back then that he’s working with former Criss band member Mike ‘Angel’ McLaughlin, Tom Perkins and Charles Kipps (known from his work with Aretha Franklin).